What Now? Finding Deals After Best Buy Ends Gamers Club Program

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According to a leaked memo from May 20, Best Buy will be discontinuing its Gamers Club Unlocked program for new members effective immediately. The exact language states, "For a variety of reasons, we have decided that our Gamers Club programs will not be accepting new members. This includes both the free Gamers Club membership and Gamers Club Unlocked (GCU)."

While losing out on that 20% discount is bad news for loyal fans of the membership, don't fret — we've looked to the Slickdeals community for tips and information on where to shop and how to avoid paying full price on video games going forward.

What Does This Mean for Current GCU Members?

Any currently active Gamers Club Unlocked member will continue receiving benefits until the subscription expires. So if you recently paid the $30 fee, breathe a sigh of relief. That discount won't be going anywhere until your two-year membership is up. Best Buy simply won't be allowing new users to sign up for memberships.

Additionally, we'd recommend pre-ordering any games you can during the final months of your membership. As Slickdealer Illuminati4Hire stated, "be sure to pre-order any game that interests you, even games that aren't releasing soon. You can always cancel if you don't want it. Get your discounts locked in."

Focus on My Best Buy Program

While many people are confused at the sudden of death of Gamers Club, Best Buy appears to be refocusing on its "My Best Buy" program. Gamers, in particular, may be interested in $10 reward vouchers being offered on pre-orders of specific "hot" new games.

While you won't get that 20% pre-order discount with the My Best Buy program, it still has some savings for the casual gamer. In addition to special sales and offers, members also get a $5 rewards certificate for every $500 spent. Of course, that's only about $.60 cents off each of the eight or more games you'd need to buy to reach that threshold, but at least the basic membership is free.

Still, some users wonder how Amazon may react to the Gamers Club Unlocked news. Slickdealer StriderH1ryu shared, "this may kill Amazon's [pre-order discount] of 20% off new releases. I believe Amazon did that to compete w/ Best Buy. I see no reason for Amazon to do it anymore if there's no competition."

We'll have to wait and see what happens. For now, current Prime members should get those discounted pre-orders in while they still can.

Power Up For Used Games

One of the best ways to guarantee a good video game price is to simply buy older games. Even waiting just a month or two can save you a significant amount of money.

Alternatively, GameStop has a great way for patient gamers to save money outside of new releases. For $30 per year, their Elite Pro PowerUp Rewards program will get you 20% off all pre-owned games and accessories. Additionally, you'll receive exclusive monthly offers, access to Pro Day sales, extra credits on trade-ins and two-day shipping when you spend more than $35 online. If you are able to wait, that newly-release title may end up costing you much less once the early trade-ins start coming in.

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While the end of GCU deals a significant blow to purchasing physical games, there are still bargains to be had. You won't have to give up consoles and go completely digital just yet. However, time will tell if the removal of competition from Best Buy changes the strategy of both Amazon and GameStop.

Will you be switching to Prime for your video game needs going forward? Opting to just go used? Or have you found a new source for video game deals? Let us know in the comments below!

Nolan is an avid automotive, electronic, and gadget enthusiast. If it has an engine or a processor, he can't keep his hands off it. He was introduced to Windows 3.1 in the early '90s and has been hooked ever since. Deal alerts include "mechanical keyboard," "smart watch," and "bulk candy."

5.05 kexploit will be releasing soon. Switch is also hacked & Xbox will be soon to be with these news so for this gen even though my gcu expires in 2021 I'll be fine getting games free or waiting for bargain bin

The thing that annoys me most is that we pay FULL PRICE for digital games, and can get discounts on physical copies... Either way, Best Buy has lost my console game purchases now... I will go to Amazon, since I already have prime... I just liked the convenience of picking it up the morning it came out, not at the whim of the postal service. One more nail in the coffin of brick and mortar best buy. I'd usually shop around while picking up my games, maybe grab a new mouse or keyboard or such... but no more. Is there a forum somewhere where we can post our discontent with this decision? At least let them know they're losing customers over this decision...

The thing that annoys me most is that we pay FULL PRICE for digital games, and can get discounts on physical copies... Either way, Best Buy has lost my console game purchases now... I will go to Amazon, since I already have prime... I just liked the convenience of picking it up the morning it came out, not at the whim of the postal service. One more nail in the coffin of brick and mortar best buy. I'd usually shop around while picking up my games, maybe grab a new mouse or keyboard or such... but no more. Is there a forum somewhere where we can post our discontent with this decision? At least let them know they're losing customers over this decision...

5.05 kexploit will be releasing soon. Switch is also hacked & Xbox will be soon to be with these news so for this gen even though my gcu expires in 2021 I'll be fine getting games free or waiting for bargain bin

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